FFL, the next chapter.

The town of Fabul coming up in the distance as Sara rode on one of Essence's great birds used for military transportation. "That must be Fabul. Sara said to herself the town seemed to be in distress soldiers and monsters all around the area. The great bird finally arrived at the beach near Fabul,Sara stepped off and caressed the birds beak. "Go home now i feel that it wont be safe for you here." The bird looked at her sadly not wanting to go before taking off and flying back north to Winlan.
Rain was falling heavy on the beach "Reflect." Said Sara a invisible barrier forming around her blocking the rain. She saw the distressed town in the distance and began walking down the beach towards it.

Sara finally reaches Fabul's northern gate the rain still pours as the wind blew around the gate a few bodies littered the area. "Oh my...what happened here.." She kneels down next to the body of a solider and closes his eyes. "Rest in peace." She stands up and walks into the gate hearing what sounds like a battle in the distance. Suddenly people come running down the street fleeing to the gate screaming. She just stood in the middle of all the running people as they stared at her as they ran by her being so out of place and all in a blue silk gown and rain not touching her. "What's going on here?" She ask frantically to a male villager closest to her. "Baron is attacking get away from here they sent soldiers this way!" He yells before running for the gate. Sara closes her eyes and holds her hands out."Haste" A transparent red aura floats in the streets around her causing the villagers to run to the gate faster. She opens her eyes to see armored soldiers in the distance cutting down villagers further into the city. Sara runs towards them "Leave them alone!" She screams. "Blizzaga!" The soldiers were impaled by the huge icicles protruding from the ground. "Run now!" She yells to the villagers that survived the soldiers attacks. The villagers run expect for the one stabbed through the shoulder. She kneels down next to the man "Cura" she whispers healing up his wound and telling him to run. She stands back up and looks down the street further into the city. "Why must the innocent be cut down in a war..." She thought to herself as she walked towards the main plaza.

Maria could not ask for help in Baron since it was the Baron that attacked her home, but she didnt want to leave, so she planned to get into the castle and find out their next destination to attack. She ran to get the armour again and even though she now looked like a baron guard, the soldiers would not alow her to just walk in without a few questions.

Guard 1: "Why are you here?"
Guard 2: "Shouldnt you be helping the other guards at myssidia?"
Maria: "I was not sent to fight at Myssidia I was only asked to inform the king of the Barons success there."

The guards nodded at each other and opened the gate, Maria was now in the enemies fortress. The place was full of the sound of airships and armour shuffling about, Maria had lived in a castle once, but it was nothing like Baron castle, she saw a group of white mages walk by and decided the armour was going to be too heavy so she went into the white mages room and obtained a white robe and then followed the other white mages moving towards the kings throne room. Maria was close to getting the informtion she was seeking but when they got to the throne room, the guards told them:

Guard 1: "Get back to your rooms, the king has no need to see you at the momment"
White mage leader: "We were told the king wished to see if my students werer ready to aid his soldiers"
Guard 2: "The king has now told us only guards can see him at the momment"

Maria was getting annoyed, she did not want to have to put the armour back on, so she snapped

Maria: "If the king has told us he wants to see us, he will see us, I think more aid will be needed then more guards, so let us through or we will inform the king that you have been preventing news from reaching his throne!"
Guard 2: "shut it you!"
White mage leader: "My student is right, let us through now or the king can forget about aid for his soldiers"
Guard 1: "Fine go through, but dont blame us when the king just throws you to the dungeon.

Maria and the other white mages finally got to the kings throne, Maria was glad that she did not have to put the armour back on.

The pair were running through the town, only being stopped by monsters here and there. They ran for a few minutes, and saw the village square finally. Upon reaching it, hal bent over and grabbed his knees, he was well out of breath. Reina, having lived in the wild was used to it, and was quite unphazed by the run. She looked back behind them, and there was the fox from before.
....nyah?
She looked at it for a moment and eventually walked over to it. She held out her hand over it's back, and a small white orb appeared. It floated for a moment, and suddenly jetted for his spine. The cure spell would likely allow him to move better at least. She saw his expression and smiled a bit, before turning to hal again. He was on a bunch of random warm boulders in the street looking out to get a handle on their situation.
Well... the battle is still far away, but who knows how long that'll be true.
...Hrm....
Well... any ideas on how to get in?
...none eh?...
What about you fox?
The 1st was directed at Reina, but he knew she couldn't talk. He then noticed the fox had followed them and asked the same.

((OOC; I know it's short and I apologize, but I'm on a cellphone till Monday night.))

''....nyah?'' The fox saw the two whom he was looking for, and the girl spotted him first, then the man. The girl walked over to Urran, and held her hand over his spine. Curious, the fox turned his head. Suddenly he saw a small white orb, which was floating under her hand, and slowly came down in his back. *What is she?.... Huh? My back pain, its a little easier to deal with, but I won't stand until I feel no more pain. It would be safer that way, but I think I can run again in this form.* Urran looked at her and smiled, and she smiled a bit back, before looking at the man she was with.
''Well... the battle is still far away, but who knows how long that'll be true...Hrm....''
',Well... any ideas on how to get in?'' The man asked while looking at the girl, she didn't respond.
''...none eh?... What about you fox?'' The man asked to the creature which had previously called a monster. The fox sat down like a dog.
''Hmm...'' The fox thought for a bit, and dropped the bag from its mouth. ''Well, first off, if you're asking to get in the castle, I can lead, but after than I'm clueless to the inside. If your looking for the quickest way out.... That I would not know, because the whole town may be attacked by all directions at the same time... But I can lead you though the alleys, even though it's been only several days that I was here, I still mapped most of town in my head, every alley, every street, every hiding spot... But the place that I followed you... and crashed.... was one of the places that I didn't bother to check...'' The fox responded as clearly as he could, to prove to the man that he wasn't a monster, and took the bag up in its mouth again.

(OOC: I can't post monday, cause I won't be there until 9:30 at Reina's time.)

Soon the torrent of rain could no longer shield the walls of Fabul from view of the five-man force. And so, gathering their wits the best of their ability and priming their minds to cope with the dreaded mission, they approached the West Gate.

Entering was luckily of little concern for the team. The entrance was guarded by a handful of other burly Baron guards, as was expected. A few fallen bodies, one or two of Baron and a few more seemingly armed civilians, were littered around a little ways behind the gate. Of course, the peasant-dressed band were greeted by the drawings of swords and spears, the largest among them bellowing "Halt! State your business here or we shall remove you by force!" Eoin was not sure he could empathise with the watchdogs' surprise when his leader replied "I am Captain Wake of the Baron militia, and am leading an investigation." The underlings all performed the required salutes and bellows of "Sir!", the sincerity in their tone and form in spite of the harsh flood averting any potentially curious guard to question their dress sense. They set down both their arms and their hostility. The Captain continued: "I am leading this team inside the walls to gather information on the invasion's progress. We shall be returning through this same gate, so stay alert, men."

The same heavy guard who halted the band responded, "The area is still a battlefield, as both monsters and rebels are aggravating out forces. Proceed carefully, captain." Without another word, a round of salutes was performed, and the team darted into the gate. The band of five wound and weaved through the street leading to the town square, their minds focused almost solely on proceeding as swiftly as possible and keeping a sharp look out for potential danger. The density of wounded and deceased strewn along the path slowly expanded as distance was covered. Eoin knew could not afford to devote any time to giving anything but the mission and the well-being of his own team specifically anything more than a second thought, be it a fellow soldier or a tragic citizen casualty. The wizard kept his heart held down in his throat, his mind directed absolutely forward and his muddied fingers energised for whatever may come.

Cries and wails of monsters and people rung ever louder in all ears as the town square drew itself into view. Eoin ran alongside the captain, yet almost had to be pushed by Troff to keep his feet moving. Glancing back, Chiseler and Handel seemed as if they were trailing behind half a metre further back further than before, and Eoin was feeling paranoia overpower him with dread over the thought of losing them. His heart thumping and adrenalin pulsing through his drenched, scrawny frame, another Spirit Wave enchantment was hurriedly cast in his panic. He grew increasingly more intense with every step. His eyes then immediately turned to Wake as they approach the square, and all followed when a sudden turn was made to the left. They would circle the perimeter of the square clockwise, gathering all the sights that they could, running in a similar fashion to a panicking crowd. When the captain began to play his part by screaming, the underlings only had to glimpse the horrors that assaulted them from all sides to follow the roleplay in kind with a chilling sincerity.

Blood splattered on fallen rubble and walls (this has gone on for some time)...a crowd of citizens bee-lining for the rear gate in a blur (some survivors)...monsters mowing down pockets of squabbling soldiers and townsfolk (many casualties)...a massive, molten, fallen golem proving a fitting centerpiece for the chaos (some powerful warriors are present, but who are they affiliated with?)...a lone goblin with a bloodied knife charging madly at the captain (a frenzied electrocution spouting from Eoin's hands blasted it aside without missing a beat)...calls of Baron troops to control the area (possible indication of some control)...the sprint took it's toll on all, the wizard feeling himself heave from his exerted efforts of protecting his fellow men. "Halfway there..." he repeatedly thought to himself as all screamed past the east gate. "Halfway there...halfway there...halfway there..."

Alba was having difficulties with making out details in this rain through which she was riding at a considerable speed. A few stray survivors were walking on the street, most likely seeking shelter. Somewhere on the road she noticed a fox wearing pants. This slightly surprised her, but it seemed to be nothing of importance.

Suddenly, however, she gave Windstriker a sign to stop. Who was that woman the fox was following? Something appeared strange about her.. "A tail?", she asked loudly in surprise. She looked back and examined the woman closely. Yes, she hadn't been fooled. There was a man walking down the street who seemed to be taking care of a woman with a tail, and some unusual ears. Following these two was a fox wearing trousers, she suspected to be their pet.

She ordered her horse to turn around and follow this suspicious trio slowly. There was no need to reveal herself to them just yet - She would be watching them silently for now.




She had been following the three for a while now. There were a few encounters with monsters, but the two humans(Alba found it easier to refer to the woman as a "human" for now) were capable of protecting themselves. The man was an adept fighter, and the woman appeared to possess magical powers.

They seemed to be headed for town square, for a reason yet unknown to her. As far as she was concerned, they had been trying to escape the town. When they reached the open area that was home to the marketplace and public events, Alba observed how the woman turned around and cast a spell on the fox. She couldn't think of a reason for this, and so she decided to ignore the matter.

((This will be (I hope) my last short post.))
Hal simply stood gaping for a moment.
That fox IS talking.....
He looked to Reina and thought about asking her if he was crazy, but he saw her there, and realized how crazy of an occurrence she was too. He looked down and shook his head.
Well... what the hell. Might as well.
He responded to the fox in disbelief.
Got nothing to lose from trying I suppose. Very well, I'll take you up on that.
And with that he leapt down from the boulders, or rather, the remainder of the golem, and stood in front of the two... er.... animals. Reina simply stood there, shivering in the cold, till she sneezed, which prompted Hal's next statement.
Well let's get going, It's probably very cold for her to be standing in the rain in just a cloth diaper...
And he gestured to the fox, signifying he wanted him to go first and lead the way.

Sara walked down the streets heading for the plaza not meeting any opposition along the way. Before walking into the open area she saw a trio of people standing next to a small pile of large rocks. She looked at them all from a far before not even surprised by the one woman having a tail. Sara suddenly noticed the fox and ran into the plaza the the woman with the tail stared at Sara coming,Hal drew his weapon as Sara ran up to hug the fox. "Nyah!?" said the fox "Finally a friendly face." She said. Everyone looked at Sara appalled "Oh im so sorry i must have startled you all." Sara bowed a bit and smiled. "I thought this fox was from the Fennec Miraiko tribe the village of foxes in my country if he was with you i knew you must be friendly.." "Please forgive me i mean you no harm im Sara from Winlan i arrived here and saw the attack i just want to help this town i don't know who this enemy is but no one should attack a defenseless town."

The fox does not move. and drops his bag. ''Well, I told you, I'd need to know which destination in the town you seek.'' Replied the fox to the man, whom gestured the animal to take the lead. The man was going to reply, when suddenly...

A girl randomly starts running and goes past the pair infront of the fox, whom the man had his weapons ready. The girl came down and hugs the animal.
''Nyah?'' Said the fox in confusion.
"Finally a friendly face." She said. Everyone looked at the girl, "Oh im so sorry i must have startled you all." She bowed a bit and smiled. "I thought this fox was from the Fennec Miraiko tribe the village of foxes in my country if he was with you i knew you must be friendly.. Please forgive me i mean you no harm im Sara from Winlan i arrived here and saw the attack i just want to help this town i don't know who this enemy is but no one should attack a defenseless town."
The man was confused, the cat-girl, just stared, and the fox had his eyes wide open.
'' UGH!... Not the spine...'' Said the fox is pain '' Waaaaaait...wait, wait... From the who what where? And if you consider friendly, is that man pointing his blades at you, you must be crazy... You've got the wrong fox lady... I'm pretty sure that.... hmmm... That... I'm the only fox on this contient... I don't know about others, but you really got this wrong. I was raised near Baron, in a small village, for a good dozen of years... but the village got raided by monsters and... I'm pretty sure that I'm the only surviver...'' The fox said, and looked down at the ground again, becoming depressed of telling this story to others.

The golem slams its fist down against the entrance of the alley barely missing the everyoneas Sara stands makes it in at barely missing the golems fist. Arrows tried firing into the alley from the soliders. "Slow!" a pale white aura lingered around the area casted causing the soldiers to run slower. She begins running up to the others and breathing heavily. "We should be okay im sorry i know you still don't know me but i cant handle all of this by myself i just want to help i promise not to be a burden."

Something was going on at the southern side of the square that diverted Alba's attention from the three she was watching. The sparse flow of humans that had been entering from the southern main street had turned into a dense formation of militia, driving an unorganized rest of defenders onto the town square.

To make matters worse, an unknown girl had appeared, taking away the attention of the trio from the battle that was catching up to them. She shouted a warning, but it went unheard due to the general noise on the place. With no other options left, she took Windstriker and ran towards the humans and the fox.

But it was too late. A lightning bolt struck just between the fox and the stranger which resulted in a panic. The two humans she had been following fled behind the remains of the defeated golem. At the same time, a stray arrow passed Alba, nearly hitting her horse.

This worried her, as Windstriker wasn't equipped for a battle like this. She patted him and pointed in the direction of the rear gate. The horse understood and dashed out of the town square at a considerable speed. A quick prayer to her gods made her feel easier about this decision.

When she turned her attention back to the two humans, however, she had to find out that their previous shelter had once again turned into an unpleasant enemy. Alba started moving as fast as she could, for, if the golem reached its targets before she could, they would surely be crushed under its massive fists.

Just in time, the cat woman and her friend made it into an alleyway that was too small for the creature. It tried to smash the surrounding buildings in order to make its way, when a girl randomly started casting spells on it and destroyed it within mere seconds. The girl vanished into the alleyway at a speed that would make Windstriker seem like a snail. Groaning, Alba followed the superhuman, regretting to have dismissed her horse. At least the slow spell that had been cast on her was averted by the blessings of her gods.

(( Yes, I'm exaggerating, but I'm getting freaking annoyed here.))

Whether it was his life-preserving spell still taking effect, the unhindered pacing of his mental mantra or finally getting used to exerting his body like he never had before, Eoin was finally able to settle his mind as he and the investigation team approached the south gate. He looked to his sides once more to find all three of his other teammates were now moving alongside him. All looked ready to take on whatever followed now, and just as well; a mighty battle was now beginning to form behind them.

"Weapons! Shields! Grab what you can, men!" screamed the captain. All but the warlock wasted no time in scouting out any corpses for any nearby armour, plucking shields of Baron design from fallen soldiers. Eoin looked around somewhat confused for a split second before hearing loud clashes of metal, cries of pain, and the stench of mana closing in dangerously near. Now fully alert to the catastrophe, he crouched down to pick up the plated sheet by his feet. Unfortunately for him, he had little experience in handling heavy armour such as even this, but he would not be slowed down. He decided he would keep it held with two hands, believing it would benefit him more to stay alive rather than ensure a fraction more destruction. The others now had themselves armed with real swords rather than the meager daggers they held on to as an earlier precaution.

And so the five man band approached the south gate steadily, shields covering all sides. The formation proved to be a life saver, as two stray arrows flew directly into Troff and Eoin's defences. With any luck, this would be all they had to worry about: stray arrows could be blocked as long as the front line held and protected them from the archers.

This did not last entirely, as a potential barricade in the form of a revived Golem was heading for their new destination; he suspected other mages had brought the indiscriminate force of destruction wobbling back onto its feet, recognising the enchantments necessary to piece it together. Rain still assaulted all within the walls of Fabul, and Eoin had to ponder how foolish one would be to enchant a golem with fire in the merciless downpour that would surely severely weaken it, and revived with such basic spells at that. The south gate blockade in the distance would be relatively simple to eliminate, he believed. Something had to be done soon though, as it was still capable of destroying all constructions in its wake.

No sooner had he temporarily set down his shield to begin a taxing barrage of spells (yelling "Protect me! I shall destroy the blockade!") it was suddenly set back by pillars of ice not of his own. This worked to his advantage: even if the attack failed though some horrid luck, the attention of all who were far closer to the creature would be diverted to the nearer attacker. Eoin concentrated all his might and more into raining down great sheets of ice onto the golem's head and limbs, large flows of mana screaming out of his soul. Thanks to the two pronged assault and the horribly hackneyed, mindless attempt to revive the beast, it fell once more and provided passage.

Once his assault had passed, Eoin felt immensely dizzy and fell to his knees. He flew into a horrendous coughing fit. He had never dared burn so much of his magical energies before this mission, and now his body was suffering for it. Getting on to his feet as quickly as he could, he wheezed "Must keep moving!", his hands still clasped around his mouth as the team resumed their run past the south gate and the rubble, still formed in a circle around Eoin and ignoring all but anything that may obstruct their return to the west gate. Despite glimpsing the sight of unusual persons in the alleyways, the team had seen enough. The most difficult part of their mission was drawing to a close. Eoin's body had to hold itself together now more than ever, or he would perish here.

Eoin felt more fortunate than ever that there was still feeling in his legs. It was only a short matter matter of time before he could move at his usual pace once more, even if he still felt the need to hold his chest a little longer. In any case, he knew he could not afford to attempt casting such torrents in such a short space of time for the time being.

The investigation team resumed formation once again, and just in time too; while they were currently unaware of the Chimera's emergence, it had caught the attention of a flock of winged creatures, swooping down into the castle walls and, unfortunately, also for the investigation force. One by one, however, they were being slashed and gutted out of the sky with the timed and skilled sword strokes of Captain Wake and his other men. Some others dropped out of the sky lifeless, their wings scorched by fierce lightning bolts of unnatural origin: Eoin had been making paced efforts to fend off the assault as well. Angry peckings and sharpened claws sometimes found their way around the team's defences, Handel and Troff crying out as they drew blood but somehow still going on strong.

The battle was over quickly and the band emerged victorious, now bearing yet another series of fresh cuts to their dismay. They still stood, however, and the mission would remain a complete success if that was to remain. Ideas were beginning to brew in the captain's mind however: there had to be more, he thought. There was still no conclusion to this fighting. And would he receive extra credit for his conquests if he could provide more information for his leader than expected?

"Change of plan men." The warlock's heart skipped a beat. "More still needs reporting first hand. We head for the palace and find what's happening there." Eoin wondered if the expressions on his other allies' faces were that of usual alertness, or a reaction as aversive as his own. Before he knew it, however, all four responded with the usual "Sir!" with autonomous execution, and their own feet automatically headed onwards for the captain's perceived rewards. The mage had little idea of what to expect of seeing on his way, and just that thought made him inwardly grow immensely fearful. At the time he may not have known a battle between a rather powerful creature and peculiar, allied gathering would unfold before his eyes, but - looking back on the state of things at a more distant point in time - he doubted he could have hoped for much better luck.

The rain was still dense. Alba was watching carefully as she was running down the alleyway, trying not to miss the person she was looking for. She believed to have seen movement near a rundown building, when suddenly a shadow came down on its doorway. The creature that had landed, a mighty beast with four heads, seemed to be driving someone away from the building, cutting off their escape route. The paladin didn't think twice, if those were her targets, she needed to act. A lone katana was thrown through the air, followed by a determined warrior.

The monster screeched in pain as the sword pierced into its back. For a moment it raised on its hind feet and tried to pull it out with its claws, but it quickly decided otherwise and turned around to the new foe. Whoever deprived it from its delicious meal should taste its wrath. Alba had already shortened its distance to the beast considerably, almost being in range to attack when it turned around. However, it did manage to turn around. Three of its mouths were gaping wide open as a stream of fireballs unleashed on Alba.

Surprised by this counter-attack, the woman could only barely jump off the ground in time. Her cloak caught fire where it was close the ground, but it was luckily extinguished by the heavy rain quickly. But the Chimera didn't halt its attack. Standing on its hind feet again, the monster was threatening her with its fangs, and striking at her with its razor-sharp claws. The paladin tried to defend herself and inflicted some minor wounds on the arm of the beast, but one of the claws hit her on the side, sending her to the ground like a plaything.

When she got back on her feet, she noticed a few bad cuts on her left arm, but she didn't mind this. She had learned to ignore her pain, as well as the terror that was trying to get ahold of her. She could still move her left arm. Good. The creature sent another wave of fireballs, but this time she was prepared. Swiftly, she leapt to the side, closing in on the monster unexpectedly. Before it could react, she jumped over its back, barely avoiding the teeth that were biting at her. She grabbed at the sword that was still fixed in its back, and sunk her longer sword into the monster at the same time. With the rest of her thrust, she sliced through the back of the Chimera. The monster cried out in pain and tried to shake her off, successfully.

Alba landed on her feet, her enemy still shaking in pain. Lightning emerged from its tail, striking the area but missing her. Evading its trampling claws and feet, Alba dived under the creature's stomach, leaving two more bleeding cuts in it. The Chimera had had enough. It jumped onto the wall of the building, grabbing onto it and climbing up to the roof. There it turned around and prepared to crush this annoying fly with a devastating attack. Once again, a series of fireballs scorched the ground, then the lion-like creature came down jumping at the human, as unstoppable and mighty as an asteroid.

Alba didn't have much time to react. Sheathing one of her swords, she ran forwards a few steps, then performed a backwards flip into the air. Its claws had already passed the warrior when she came in reach of the monster's chest. She struck into the region where its heart was likely to be with all her might, maximizing the damage through an arcane enchantment.

The monster went limp and its fall accelerated. Alba tried to push herself out of the way, but it was too late. The Chimera crashed on the ground, burying the warrior under its weight.

Alba returned to her senses. She was lying on the paved street, the fallen monster on top of her, with only her arms and head free to move. Her back ached and the cuts on her left arm were still bleeding. She calmed herself. In this situation, she needed her full power to free herself, thus she began concentrating. The arcane powers within her became active, streaming her body, which became visible as white light circling her. She then cast her spell, which resulted in a bright flash of light.

Most of the warrior's wounds had healed, there was only a scar left on her arm. However, she had used up most of her magical resources, which would render her weaker in upcoming fights. Despite this, the paladin didn't waste time. She pressed against the dead Chimera with both her arms, slowly freeing herself from its weight. When she was finally free, she tumbled a few steps, trying to keep her balance, then she went into the building where she had seen her three targets disappear.

It appeared that the building had once belonged to the castle, at least there was an open doorway there, leading into the interior of the castle walls. The woman wasn't sure where the trio had run, so she headed up the close by staircase, hoping to be able to see something from the balcony.